Birth Class (Part II & III) and The Hospital Tour

I hate to cram so much into one post...but time has officially gotten away from me!  Here I am almost 37 weeks pregnant, and I'm still rushing to prepare for this child's arrival (which could be any day now, thank you very much)!!!

The second and third birth classes were much like the first; hilarious, packed with info, and overall, a lot of fun.  I was actually a little sad that the classes had to end. 

The topics we covered during the second class included: epidurals, postpartum recovery, cesarean births, what-to-pack, and the role of the support person.  After hearing the instructor's spiel on epidurals, I realized they weren't nearly as awful as I imagined, and that the research and feedback I had received prior to the class was slightly biased.  Not to say that I'm suddenly in favor of pain meds, I just appreciate the different perspective.  The what-to-pack portion was especially beneficial.  The instructor recommended a few items that never would've crossed my mind.  For example, rice bags.  What the hell is a rice bag, you say?  Its a GENIUS, homemade massage device.  You fill a sock with rice, tie it off, and your partner can use it to rub your back.  It feels absolutely heavenly; it can be used at room temp, chilled, and even warmed.  Example number two, ice packs.  At any point during labor, hold the ice pack until your hands start to hurt.  The pain in your hands will distract you from the labor pain you are feeling.  Other items that I never would've thought of include racquet balls, popsicles, electric handheld massagers, and the birthing ball (as the hospital only has two birthing balls on hand, and if they are in use at the time, you're out of luck chuck).

The third class focused mainly on breathing and massage techniques, as well as positions for laboring and delivering.  We spent the last hour of class on the floor getting massaged by our hubbys; I thoroughly enjoyed this portion of the class.  I've got a few hand outs that I need to copy down on to notecards for the hospital bag, as there is A LOT to remember!  One thing to remember: "BURP'EM".  This acronym stands for Breathe, Urinate, Rest/Relaxation, Position, Encouragement/Enviornment, and Massage.  The support person needs to coach your breathing, remind you to use the bathroom every half hour, remind you to rest between the contractions, remind you to change your laboring position every half hour, offer encouraging words and keep the room neat, and massage you like there's no tomorrow.

I absolutely loved this class, and I loved the instructor; I highly recommend anyone planning on delivering at Scottsdale Healthcare on Shea OR Osborn take this class.  Unfortunately, our wonderful teacher is retired from nursing.  I asked her (lol) in hopes of having her present for my L & D.

Just a quick blurb about the tour:  it was not nearly as exciting as I expected it to be.  The tour was something I had been looking forward to from very early in my pregnancy.  Well after our amazing birthing class, we had already heard all the pertinent information about the hospital lay out and procedures.  It was nice to do a physical walk through and to familarize ourselves with where to go when its time, and of course, it was very exciting to realize I'd be in one of those hospital beds in a few short weeks (hopefully A LOT sooner)!  The rooms are very spacious and clean; they have a refrigerator, microwave, tv, cd player, dvd player, jacuzzi tub, and private bathroom in every room.  I plan on LIVING in the shower while I'm in labor, but all that other stuff is nice too, I guess.  LOL

Birth Class Part I

Well we went to our first birthing class on Wednesday, and it was phenomenal!  The class is called Birthing Basics & Breathing Techniques, and it is held at Scottsdale Healthcare on Shea.  The class is three weeks long; it meets once a week for THREE hours!  Its unfortunate that its on a Wednesday, because Casey and I are usually curled up in bed by the time the class is over.  I guess these are the sacrifices we make for our babe (lol).

The teacher is a labor and delivery nurse that works at the Shea location, and I LOVE her.  I wish there was a way to request her for my labor and delivery.  She is hilarious, to-the-point, and very informative.  I was dreading the class all day, because I’ve been reading and preparing for this kiddo for over eight months now; I didn’t want to have to go to class too.  After the first five minutes of class I found myself practically choking, that I was laughing so hard; and now I can’t wait for the next two weeks of class!   

We covered a lot of material in three hours.  I surprised myself with how few notes I took; I'm usually the freak scribbling furiously throughout any class, but I guess I didn't have to this time because I knew most of the information she shared...  We talked about warning signs of preterm labor, true labor vs. false labor, timing contractions, some hospital procedures, episiotomies, stages of labor and the labor process overall.

As a side note, the speaker showed us pictures of her grandchildren, and her granddaughter was a breech baby.  Apparently breech babies have misshapen, bowed legs immediately after delivery, because they've been sitting criss-cross applesauce for the past 10 months...but its nothing to worry about.  Their legs straighten out shortly after delivery and their crawling/walking is not affected.  It was alarming to see, and that was why she showed the class - so that we'd be prepared...

Also, I finished my birth plan, so I'll have a post on that coming up.  Woooooooo!  We are just knocking out this baby to-do list!  Happy Saturday peeps!  :-)